WIM IFC “Top50” Professional & Career Women Awards 2021
Date: 18th January 2022
Venue: Shangri-La Hotel Colombo
Venue: Shangri-La Hotel Colombo
Guests of Honor
- Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma, Minister – Ministry of Mass Media
- Hon. (Dr.) (Mrs.) Seetha Arambepola, State Minister State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education Research and Innovation
- H.E. David Holly, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka & Maldives
- H.E. Excellency Omar Abdul Razzak, Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
- Ms. Chiyo Kanda, Country Manager, Maldives & Sri Lanka, the World Bank
- Her Excellency (Mrs) Tanja Gonggrijp, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka and Maldives
- Her Excellency Trine Jøranli Eskeda, Ambassador to Sri Lanka & Maldives, Royal Norwegian Embassy
- Hon. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Member of Parliament
- Hon. (Mrs.) Thalatha Athukorala, Member of Parliament
- Hon. Eran Wickramaratna, Member of Parliament
- Snr. DIG Dr. Ajith Rohana Crime & Traffic
- Dr. Sulochana Segera WIM Founder & Chairperson
Theme
“Empowered Women For A Resilient Future”
(Event Colour Theme Black & Yellow)
Panel of Judges
- Ms. Nadija Tambiah - Chair of Panel of Judges Head of Legal, Secretarial and Corporate Social Responsibility at John Keells Holdings PLC
- H. E Amanda Jewell - Acting Australian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka
- Dr. Rohantha Athukorala - Country Head, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan, Clootrack Labs
- Mr. Nisthar Cassim - Editor, Daily FT
- Ms. Sarah Twigg – Program Manager, Women in Work, IFC
- Ms. Jayanthi Dharmasena - Managing Director, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd
- Dr. Kishu Gomes - Managing Director and CEO of Dreamron Group of Companies
- Ms. Sandra De Zoysa - Group Chief Customer Officer at Dialog Axiata PLC
- Mr. Santosh Menon - CEO of KL.LK
- Ms. Sandaya Salgado - Strategic Marketing Professional
Committee
- Amali Mendis Mudunkotuwa - Chair
- Vijitha Samarakkodyge – Deputy Chair
Award Winners
No | Category | Name | Title |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Human Resources (Includes HR, HRD & IR) | Dinali Peiris, Director Group Human Resources MAS Holdings, Board Member on the MAS Holdings Apparel Board and its Sustainability Advisory Committee, Board Member of the UN Global Compact Network | Gold |
2 | Banking Industry (Banking Professionals) | Keasila Jayawardana, Chairperson National Savings Bank, published several academic articles on topics in Political Science including Preferential Voting System | Gold |
3 | Finance Services (Finance professionals, Auditors, Insurance services, stockbrokers & Leasing) | Dinali Katipearachchi , Vice President Aitken Spence Corporate Finance (Pvt) Ltd, Head of Tax for the Aitken Spence Group | Gold |
4 | Marketing & Marketing Communications (Sales, Brands, Customer care, Public Relations) | Kavindra Rajapaksha , Vice President Head of Marketing – Softlogic Life Insurance PLC | Gold |
5 | Legal | Ambika Satkunanathan, Open Society Foundation –Human Rights Lawyer and Fellow, she has worked with community organizations and communities impacted by human rights violations, in particular, assisting them access remedies. From Oct 2015 to March 2020, she was a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, | Gold |
6 | State & Government Sector | Her Excellency Grace Asirwatham, Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the European Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka | Gold |
7 | Corporate Communication | Manindri Bandaranayke, Chief Branding Marketing Officer Janashakthi Insurance PLC | Gold |
8 | Digital Media | Tharinidi Thalahiti, Deputy Editor, Pulse – Derana Macro Entertainment (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
9 | Supply Chain & Logistics | Debbe (Deborah) Dissanayake, General Manager Sales – Expo Lanka Freight (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
10 | Hospitality Industry (Careers in tourism, Food & Beverages, Travel, Transport Meeting & Events, Entertainment & Attractions) | Chandra Madanayake, Managing Director – Fab Foods (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
11 | Arts & Entertainment Industry | Anoli Perera, And Artist and Arts Writer Her writings on contemporary Sri Lankan art were published in a number of publications including Art Asia Pacific, South Asia Journal for Culture, and numerous art catalogues and books on Sri Lankan art. | Gold |
12 | Defense Force & Civil Security | SSP R. A. Darshika Kumari, The Bureau for the Abuse of Children &, Women She was the first woman in charge of Cyber Crime Division in CID Sri Lanka Police | Gold |
13 | Sports | Chief Inspector Thampu Nelka Shiromala, First ever Sri Lankan Boxing referee and Judge at the Tokyo Olympics – Sri Lanka Police | Gold |
14 | Educator (Educational Institutes, Schools & Universities) | Prof. Mangala Gunatilake, Sri Lanka Association for Laboratory Animals Science – Associated Professor of Physiology, Managing Director – Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo | Gold |
15 | Science, Technology & Research | Prof. Hiranya Peiris, Professor of Astrophysics at University College London (UCL), Director of the UCL Cosmo particle Initiative, and a Director of the Oskar Klein Centre – Royal Astronomical Society’s hall of fame – the third woman to be given the honors – by being awarded the annual Eddington Medal for “investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics”. | Gold |
16 | Health & Medical Sector | Dr. Padma Sriyani Gunarathna, President – Sri Lanka Medical Association – 2021,she led a team of experts and provided regular advocacy on measures to control the COVID | Gold |
17 | Corporate Leader of the year | Vidya Sivaraja, Managing Director – Fonterra Sri Lanka & Indian Subcontinent – first Sri Lankan to lead one of Fonterra’s country markets | Gold |
18 | Woman Board Director of the year | Thushara Wijewardena, Non-Executive Independent Director – Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, member of Women Execs on Boards, first female director to join a leading bank board in Sri Lanka from tech industry, tech entrepreneur and corporate director | Gold |
19 | Career Role Model of the Year | Thilanka Abeywardena, Marketing and Business Operations Lead Microsoft Sri Lanka & Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing – CMO Lead South East Asia New Markets and President – President / Council member in an honorary capacity and is the first woman | Gold |
20 | Business Role Model of the Year | Fazeela Dharmaratna, Proprietor – CeeBees Pre School and Child Care Centre and Crèche Services | Gold |
21 | Male Champion of Change | Ajay Amalean, Co Founder & Managing Director – MAS Holdings –Ajay Amalean onto lead the design and product development function at MAS, MAS as a Trustee on the board of the AYATI Foundation | Gold |
22 | Social Change Maker of the year | Devadharmini Selvika Sahathevan, Executive Director United Humanity –drugs and alcohol rehabilitation center in Batticaloa – which is the only Tamil rehabilitation center in the Eastern province | Gold |
23 | Inspirational Professional Woman of the Year | Dr Maheshi Ramasamy, Principal Investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group Consultant Physician at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Deputy Director for Graduate Entry Medicine at the University of Oxford. Her research interests are in immunology and Vaccinology | Gold |
24 | Inspirational Woman of the Year | Prof. Nadira Karunaweera, Chair and Senior Professor of Parasitology – Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo – Visiting Fellow at the School of Public Health, Harvard University | Gold |
25 | Trail Blazer of the year | Aruni Goonetilleke, Chairperson – Hatton National Bank | Gold |
26 | Game Changer of the year | Randhula De Silva, CEO Good Life X Founder empowered 55 entrepreneurs to date, in the food & agriculture, wellness and travel sectors | Gold |
27 | Print Media | Chandani Kirinde, Senior Journalist – Wijeya News Papers Ltd – parliamentary correspondent for the past two decades. | Gold |
28 | Electronic Media | Chethana Liyanage, Sirasa – Kantha SATANA Political presenter – female-led politics and current affairs show in Sinhala that features a female panel of guests. authored the book – Nokiyu Prawurthi (News Untold), | Gold |
29 | Career Achievements in State Sector | H E Shani Calyaneratne Karunaratne, Ambassador designated at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Lebanon – Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Gold |
30 | Career Achievements in Aviation Sector | Devika Ellepola, Sales Manager Commercial Operations Sri Lanka, Emirates Airline | Gold |
31 | Career Achievements in Engineering | Darshika Jayasekara, Road Development Authority – Project Director New Bridge Construction Project over Kelaniya River | Gold |
32 | Career Achievements – Compliance & Legal | Summaiya Macan Markar, Chief Legal, Compliance and Privacy Officer – Allianz Insurance Lanka Ltd | Gold |
33 | Local Global (Outstanding Personality who is Sri Lankan and leading global venture | Suhanya Raffel M+ Hong Kong – Museum Director – first Sri Lankan Museum Director of M+ Hong Kong – a major new museum of contemporary Visual Culture | Gold |
34 | Positive Media Campaign on the empowerment of Women | NDB & SIRASA, Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana – Vanithabhimana is the flagship collaborative initiative of National Development Bank PLC and News First of Capital Maharaja Group | Gold |
35 | Best NGO/INGO or Association fostering Women’s Empowerment | SOS Children’s Villages, SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka is an independent non-governmental organization | Gold |
36 | Best Organizational Culture Award (Gender Equal, Inclusive and Respectful Workplace | AIA Insurance Lanka Ltd, member of AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurer, with a presence in 18 markets across the Asia-Pacific region | Gold |
37 | Best ESG Project on Women’s empowerment by an organization | Hirdaramani Apparel, Wonder of Wellbeing or WOW is a holistic and engaging program operating across the dimension of wellbeing for Hirdaramani’s workforce, their families and society | Gold |
38 | Inspirational Woman with Attitude and Skills | Asanthi Ruwanmali De Silva, Swimmer and Writer – A novel writer, song writer, poet, critic and swimmer, Asanthi sees the world by her own vision of love | Gold |
39 | Inspirational Young Entrepreneur of the Year | Harshi Manamendra, Ishara Ventures (Pvt) Ltd – Founding Director –This is the only woman in Sri Lanka who design lorries & trucksHarshi Manamendra, an entrepreneur, educator, Mechanical Engineer, designer, innovator and the Managing Director of Ishara Ventures (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
40
| Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur (Large) one new ventures | Shea Wickramasinghe, Managing Director Ceylon Biscuits Limited –two manufacturing plants in Bangladesh and Ghana – Partner for SPAR International. | Gold |
41 | Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur (Small) | Kirithika Thushyantha, Founder and Managing Director of Technobrain International (Pvt) Ltd, a technology solution provider, and also the founder of Batticaloa IT park, a tech co-working space | Gold |
42 | Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur (Small) | Adhisha Dahanayake, Double XL (Pvt) Ltd – . As an athlete, Adhisha holds the national power lifting title for 2021 | Gold |
43 | Upcoming Woman Entrepreneur | Wimalaguna Kodituwakku Nayanathara, Owner Tara Watergate Hotel – first environmentally and community friendly boutique hotel in Tissamaharama | Gold |
44 | Upcoming Woman Entrepreneur | Pulani Ranasinghe, Forming Loons Lab Loons Lab (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
45 | Upcoming Woman Entrepreneur | Shanthini Ahangama, Coconut Miracle, created Coconut Miracles (Pvt) Ltd | Gold |
46 | Upcoming Woman Entrepreneur | D M Podimanike, Bhagya Pan Products – (Polonnaruwa) | Gold |
47 | Upcoming Woman Entrepreneur | G.Sivajothi, Lakshmi Products – (Karathiv) Ampara District | Gold |
48 | Social Entrepreneur of the Year | Ruchini Liyanage, Owner Sunimal’s – eco-friendly handmade products locally and internationally | Gold |
49 | Judges Awards | Dr. Vajira Chitrasena, a veteran Sri Lankan traditional dancer, choreographer, and teacher “prima ballerina of Kandyan dance”. She is the first Sri Lankan woman to practice the traditional Kandyan dance | Gold |
50 | Professional Role Model of the year – Maldives | Justice Aisha Shujune Muhammad, Justice to the Supreme Court – one of the first two female Justices appointed to the Maldivian Supreme Court in 2019 | Gold |
51 | Career Achiever of the Year – Maldives | Aishath Jennifer, Deputy Managing Director Island Aviation Services Ltd – parent company of the national airline, Maldivian | Gold |
52 | Woman with a Cause – Maldives | Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeg, Health Protection Agency – Medical Officer (Head Communicable Disease Control) | Gold |
53 | Inspirational Woman of the Year – Maldives | Maimoona Aboobakuru, Director General Health Protection Agency | Gold |
54 | Climate Action Award – Maldives | Aishath Hudha Ahmed, Independent Environment Consultant – in charge of Energy and Environment portfolio, and was also the Director of Renewable Energy Maldives (Pvt) Ltd, a member of National Planning Committee, Governing board of EPA and Maldives National University Council | Gold |
55 | Entrepreneur of the Year – Maldives | Abidha Ismail Ali, Owner – Designer Fabrics – she runs a business selling exclusive one-piece design fabrics from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and other countries | Gold |
56 | WIM Member of the Year | Waruni Algama, Exco Member, Senior GM Dialog Axiata PLC | Appreciation Award |
57 | Appreciation of partners of WIM Success | Dr.Kishu Gomes, Managing Director and CEO of Dreamron Group of Companies | Appreciation Award |
58 | Appreciation of partners of WIM Success | Senior DIG Dr. Ajith Rohana, Crime & Traffic, Sri Lanka Police | Appreciation Award |
59 | Appreciation of partners of WIM Success | Dr. Rohantha Athukorala, Country Head, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan, Clootrack Labs | Appreciation Award |